Hitmen kill Princess Michael of Kent's 'toyboy' tycoon friend

A RUSSIAN playboy once dubbed Princess Michael of Kent’s “toyboy” has been murdered in a gangland hit.

Princess Michael of Kent was seen holding hands with Kravchenko in 2006 []

The bullet-ridden body of businessman Mikhail Kravchenko, 46, was found in his car near Moscow.

He caused a scandal when he was photographed walking hand-in-hand with the Princess, now 67, around Venice during a four-day holiday in April 2006 – prompting speculation about the state of her marriage to Prince Michael of Kent.

Last night Simon Astaire, spokesman for the Royal couple, said: “Prince Michael and Princess Michael are very distressed to hear of this tragedy.”

Two gunmen are believed to have killed Mr Kravchenko, who made his fortune through a furniture business.

Initial theories last night suggested a shadowy business dispute could be behind the murder.

One source said: “He branched out into the real estate and construction markets – both notoriously corrupt – as the furniture market slowed down.

“We cannot rule out the common scenario for such shootings – a debt he couldn’t repay or a dispute over ownership of a company or property.” Detectives called the killers “professional” assassins.

He was found in his Mercedes at the exclusive Peredelkino neighbourhood close to the Russian capital.

The gunmen shot him five times before dragging him from his car and shooting him in the head. Some accounts said there were 10 shots.

When Princess Michael was seen with Mr Kravchenko in Venice, he was regarded as one of Moscow’s most eligible men.

He had been single since his wife Svetlana and daughter Maria died in a car crash five years earlier.

After the pictures of them holding hands were revealed, the Princess denied an affair.

She said: “I hold hands with all my friends. I don’t think that’s being intimate at all.

“I’m a very tactile person. The true nature of our relationship is that it is a very good friendship.”

Mr Kravchenko was regarded as more modest and unassuming than many wealthy Russian businessmen. He would often be seen without bodyguards, a rarity for the new-rich elite in Moscow.

The Princess later worked as a design consultant to Mr Kravchenko, who ran several hundred furniture stores across Russia, including the brand March 8.

Prince Michael was in Russia last week without the Princess.

He flew to St Petersburg to be awarded a degree by a Russian university for services to British-Russian relations.